He described seeing feces from both dogs and humans and people openly urinating in front of families at Waterfront Park.

Commissioner Rob Parolek said he has seen people living in Waterfront Park, and has been told its picnic area isn’t used because transients use it as a hangout. Vice Chairperson Karen Bell-Patten described similar episodes and said during one trip to the park, “I felt unsafe.”

At that meeting, Police Chief Manjit Sappal urged those who see inappropriate behavior should call the dispatch number, 925-372-3440, rather than post on social media.

During last week’s City Council meeting, other residents complained about trash and waste left by homeless, including in local creeks and waterways. They said they have seen needles on Rankin Park’s playground and near Susana Park’s restrooms. Others said children can’t play in some places.

Sappal will give the report tonight, and will cover safety concerns regarding homeless people in city parks and ways the public’s concerns can be addressed; the pros and cons of plans for public safety cameras at city parks; dealing with after-hour or overnight parking city parks, including a suggestion for installing locking gates; and whether on-street parking on Morello Avenue would benefit Hidden Lakes Park.

Some of those topics involve the city’s Public Works Department, he advised.

Public Works Maintenance Superintendent Bob Cellini and his staff will give a presentation on various parks maintenance topics requested by the Commission.

The talk will cover Public Works organization and areas of responsibility, how it works with Martinez Police, the department’s point of view about overnight or after-hours parking in city parks and the department’s observations on locked gates and possible on-street parking on Morello Avenue for Hidden Lakes Park.

Two organizations will ask for fee waivers for their use of two different areas of Rankin Park.

Martinez Early Childhood Center Executive Director Cassandra Campbell, will request a fee waiver for the use June 6 of Rankin Park Canyon for a celebration picnic. About 50 to 100 are expected to attend, and the fee normally is $240. A $350 deposit is not waived.

Kris Gery of the Foster Family Network, will ask to use Rankin Park Olive Grove July 28 for the Foster Family Network annual picnic. About 100 people will attend, Gery said. Olive Grove normally rents for $240, with a required $350 deposit.

The Commission will consider approving June 16 as its date for a retreat to multiple topics, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at the Martinez Senior Center has been proposed.

The agenda for the workshop includes an overview and analysis of the Commission’s duties and responsibilities, when and how the panel makes recommendations to the Council, committee staff support and meeting procedures.

The Commission also will discuss upcoming site visits to the city’s parks at the beginning of meetings in June, July and August.

In addition, the Commission could visit the Martinez Library and the temporary dog park in Waterfront Park.

Tours would begin at 6:30 p.m. at Martinez City Hall to start a Commission meeting, and once the tours are complete, Commissioners would reconvene the meeting upon returning to City Hall.

The Park, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission will meet at 7 p.m. tonight in the Council Chamber of Martinez City Hall, 525 Henrietta St.

]]>https://martinezgazette.com/park-commission-to-hear-report-on-public-safety-issues/feed/12035Unusual trash, correct tarping to be shown Thursdayhttps://martinezgazette.com/unusual-trash-correct-tarping-to-be-shown-thursday/
https://martinezgazette.com/unusual-trash-correct-tarping-to-be-shown-thursday/#respondWed, 23 May 2018 08:00:57 +0000https://martinezgazette.com/?p=2048MARTINEZ, Calif. – Caltrans District 4 will have peculiar and unusual trash item on display Thursday during its “Protect Every Drop” education campaign, and officials will demonstrate how to tarp hauled materials so they don’t escape.

The District wants to impress upon residents how items can impact local waterways, and will have some of the “most ugly, bizarre and dangerous items pulled from local highways and waterways,” said Naseem Sells in an announcement of the event.

The tarping demonstration is part of a Caltrans education program designed to keep items in a vehicle, rather than tumbling across the road.

The agency timed this event in anticipation of Memorial Day Weekend, when vacationers will be loading their vehicles and car rooftops for fun recreation, the statement said. Many of the items that come loose end up polluting waterways and watersheds, as does trash.

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday at the Waterbird Regional Preserve on Waterfront Road.

]]>https://martinezgazette.com/unusual-trash-correct-tarping-to-be-shown-thursday/feed/02048Martinez designer-entertainer returning home for book signinghttps://martinezgazette.com/martinez-designer-entertainer-returning-home-for-book-signing/
https://martinezgazette.com/martinez-designer-entertainer-returning-home-for-book-signing/#respondWed, 23 May 2018 08:00:35 +0000https://martinezgazette.com/?p=2018MARTINEZ, Calif. – A Martinez native whose career has made him a widely recognized decorator is coming home next month to celebrate the publication of his second book.

But Nathan Turner, who is known for his appearances on Bravo’s cable program “Million Dollar Decorators,” didn’t write about designing or how to make a home more beautiful.

His latest book is “I Love California: Live, Eat and entertain The West Coast Way.”

Turner’s first book is “Nathan Turner’s American Style: Classic Design & Effortless Entertaining.” So his editor was surprised when he said that for his next book, he wanted to write recipes.

To those who know Turner, the decision made sense. He is a fourth-generation Californian, the son of Richard Turner, spent weekends in his younger days riding horses at the family cattle ranch or in his mother’s Napa organic grocery cooperative.

He earned his business degree at St. Mary’s College, then went abroad to live in France and Italy, where he studied those countries’ languages, art history and cuisine.

He returned to California, to the Los Angeles area this time, and opened Nathan Turner Inc., a storefront featuring interior designs inspired by themes from his home state, from coastal Malibu to the High Country area.

At the same time, he also incorporated ideas for entertaining, and at one time had a full kitchen in his store so he could be the host – and chef – of dinners and parties.

He has called his latest book “a love letter to my home state. I drove up and down Highway 1, from the redwoods of Northern San Francisco to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada to the beaches of Southern California, collecting simple recipes for California comfort food, like my family’s Cioppino, Marinated Tri-tip Steak, Mexican Chocolate cake and more.”

He also provides entertainment tips in his book.

One chapter of the book is devoted to Martinez, with a menu of a dirty vodka martini, Fiori fritti, Marion’s Sicilian meatballs, Brussels sprout salad, red pepper garlic bread and frozen Zabaglione pie.

He opens the chapter reminiscing about his childhood, when Martinez reminded him of living in the country, with “backyards that fed into rolling hills, perfect for exploring, and even horses that we may or may not have ridden to the Burger King drive-through now and then.”

He describes the city’s Gold Rush heritage, Victorian homes and John Muir’s home. “Yes, the godfather of our national park system chose to live here, thank you,” he writes.

His great-grandmother, Marion, moved to Martinez from San Francisco when she married Turner’s great-grandfather. He said she was a “bold Italian-American,” whose cooking and home reflected her personality. “She and Martinez were my inspiration to create this table and menu,” he writes.

He incorporates European updates of the typical Italian restaurant’s red and white check tablecloth and candle that drips on a Chanti glass, but keeps the approach warm and welcoming, he writes.

In his culinary salute to Martinez, he writes that he chose dishes that can be made a day in advance, “and I think taste better when prepared the day before. It’s my cozy Italian supper with a California twist.”

In between pictures of food and décor, Turner’s book has a shot of the Martinez Marina, as well as some of his relatives.

Turner lives in Ojai, in a home he’s decorating. He’s been featured in Architectural Digest and is the magazine’s special projects editor, Domino, Vogue, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Food & Wine, Veranda, Luxe Magazine, C Magazine for which he is a contributing editor, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

His book is avaible on Amazon and at Abrams, Barnes and Nobile, Indie Bound, Indigo and Books-a-Million.

The book signing will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at the Old Southern Pacific Depot, 401 Ferry St. Copies of the book will be available for purchase, and cocktails will be served.

Jenny Robbins, housing and services administrator for Contra Costa County, speaks at a city council meeting. During her presentation she said the lack of housing also is associated with those suffering from both mental and physical illnesses. At right is Scott Williams, CORE team leader.

MARTINEZ, Calif. – In 2017, California had an estimated 134,278 homeless people living on its streets. That was about half of the homeless population in the entire United States.

The same study showed that only New York came close to California, with 89,503 counted as homeless that year, said Jenny Robbins, housing and services administrator for Contra Costa County. Third on the list was Florida with 32,190.

California lags behind other states in dealing with its large homeless population, including the veterans and families that find themselves without shelter. Chronic homelessness in California has increased by 5.5 percent while in the rest of the country, it’s declining by 22 percent, she said.

Homelessness is a local issue, too, Robbins said. A family must bring in at least $44 an hour to afford a home in the San Francisco Bay Area, and more than that to afford the median asking rent of $2,300, according to a report by Paul Waddell, of the University of California, Berkeley, Urban Analytics Lab.

Robbins cited his report that showed that instead of the $7,667 a month needed to afford the median asking rent in Contra Costa County, minimum wage earners bring in $1,820 a month, retail salespeople earn $2,083, custodians earn $2,733 a month, preschool teachers get $2,989 a month, bus drivers are paid $3,278 a month and medical assistants earn $3,527 a month.

The housing crisis is one reason that 2,334 people experience homelessness in Contra Costa County on any given night, she said.

“Contra Costa County needs 30,939 more affordable rental homes to meet the needs of very low and extremely low income residents,” she said.

It also needs more shelters, she said. Contra Costa County has but 30 percent of the spaces needed to provide shelter for those on the street, according to the numbers gleaned in the 2018 Point in Time Count, she said.

During her presentation Wednesday to the Martinez City Council, she said the lack of housing also is associated with those suffering from both mental and physical illnesses. It also compounds the problem, because without a home, a person often can’t get the medicine or proper care for chronic conditions, she said.

Studies and records show that a small portion of those without homes account for the majority of acute care use and cost. “We call them high utilizers,” she said.

Homelessness cost the Contra Costa County healthcare system $45 million in Fiscal Year 2013-14, for such services as primary health emergencies, impatient and outpatient care, substance abuse services, psychiatric emergencies and mental health treatment. And 12 percent of the homeless population account for 75 percent of the costs incurred.

“It helps to know this information, to target interventions,” she said.

And that is where the Coordinated Outreach Referral and Engagement (CORE) teams come in, said Scott Williams, the lead of the team Martinez shares with Pleasant Hill. Rather than creating a new agency, Contra Costa County has developed the teams under its Health Housing and Homeless (H3) Services program.

Martinez was the first city to fund a CORE team, which is in this city Wednesdays, Fridays and alternating Mondays.

In the past year, the CORE team made contact with 348 individuals, of which 83 percent slept outside the night before the contact, nearly two-thirds in Martinez and 87 of whom lost their homes in Martinez. Another 44 lost their homes in Central Contra Costa County, 28 from the eastern part of the county and 16 from the county’s west side.

According to a survey by the CORE team, 76 percent have a type of disability, 23 percent have experienced domestic violence, 18 percent are on probation or parole, 18 percent are at least 60 years old and 8 percent are veterans.

Half are male, and half are female, ranging in age from 32 to 71, according to CORE’s April surveys. Of those interviewed, 31 already had been in contact with CORE. That month, 94 percent had slept in Martinez the night before speaking to the CORE team, and most said they feel safe here.

More than a third grew up in the Bay Area, and half in Contra Costa County, with 27 percent grew up Martinez. More than half have lived in Martinez for more than 20 years.

In describing their goals, 60 percent said they wanted to find housing, 44 percent want to work, 21 percent want to get financial benefits and 12 percent want to reunite with their families.

The report showed that 40 percent of CORE users in Martinez moved to shelters or housing or otherwise resolved their situations so they got off the streets.

“If CORE did not exist, we are only left with three options: Jail, psych emergency or hospital,” Martinez Police Chief Manjit Sappal has said. “We would not have the trust, time or the right type of people to do the work.”

In the past, services to the homeless were “siloed,” Williams said, working independently with little mutual communication or interaction. CORE teams help coordinate those services, he said.

Members of CORE teams try to build relationships with those on the street, encouraging them into shelters or warming centers, helping them obtain physical and mental health services, arrange transportation to family members, and enroll them in benefits programs or get them identification cards.

The teams also become involved in encampment abatement, which Williams said “is a hot issue” among the homeless and other residents.

In the past, when Martinez strengthened its laws against sleeping in cars or harassing people in storefronts, citizens who sought those laws were countered later by those who worried the new rules under consideration were harmful to people in need.

At Wednesday’s meeting, one man told the Council that trash and waste left by the homeless has increased, and he regularly sees needles on such playgrounds as Rankin Park and near the Susana Park playground.

He complained about area “shanty towns,” and those sleeping in cars at shopping centers and near the marina and those who openly urinate at bus stops.

Some of the homeless recently helped Williams fill eight 55-gallon bags of trash from Ilene Street, he said. But he challenged the Council to visit the encampments for themselves, and pick up the syringes from the ground, to speak with public works employees who deal with the situation daily and to address laws that offer little consequences.

Another acknowledged that the rights of homeless people have been protected, but said taxpayers also have rights. She said there are places where Martinez children can’t play, and she urged the Council to make homelessness and public safety a top priority.

The county is forming more teams, Williams said. Besides the Martinez-Pleasant Hill team, another works in Concord and Walnut Creek. A third is dedicated to public works issues, such as creeks, waterways and trash abatement. Williams said he and homeless residents have pulled 12,000 pounds of garbage from sites.

Other teams that are being formed address housing disability advocacy and those having issues getting hired.

Another issue is the elderly, Williams said. Retirees may be getting pensions of $900 a month, but if they didn’t buy their homes and have them paid for, they lose their residences and find themselves on the street. “They’re living in their cars. They’re miserable and terrified.”

Williams said the local CORE team’s relationship with Martinez Police is a “best practices model.” CORE doesn’t handle anything criminal in nature – that’s for the police, he said.

“While being homeless is not a crime, many kinds of public conduct are illegal and should be reported,” he said, listing such activities as loitering, prowling, fighting, trespassing, aggressive panhandling and behaving in a threatening manner.

He said residents should call police in those cases. “I have a lot of faith in Martinez Police,” he said.

But if there is a non-criminal need for help or social services, residents should call 2-1-1 or email CORE@hsd.cccounty.us. A team will respond, he said.

“The person may not go to a shelter, but if you are inside near a window, watch what happens,” he said.

Williams described one individual’s story that began before the first CORE team was formed.

The man first was contacted by a homeless outreach person in 2008, but from that first contact to 2016, the man’s emergency room visits, inpatient admissions, ambulance trips, mental health services and other aid cost $17.7 million.

He stayed at the Concord shelter nine times, used homeless services 32 times and joined 13 other programs. He had 99 contacts with Martinez police in a single year.

The CORE team met the man in 2017 four times, but the most important contact came when Officer Rodney Brinser found him at a bus stop near the Safeway supermarket.

The man was taken to a shelter, but members of the CORE team realized he was in such poor health, he needed immediate transportation to an emergency room.

Later, the man would say that was the wakeup call he needed. “I didn’t abuse drugs to die,” he told Williams.

He was placed into the Concord shelter, accepted into a veterans program that helped address his drug abuse, and was introduced to Veterans Administration staff that helped him obtain those and retirement benefits.

Williams said the man has been sober five months and is about to receive permanent housing. “He is off death’s door and has got keys to a home,” Williams said.

Residents need to understand this is a transient problem, too, Williams said. “We are always going to have the homeless,” he said. “I could house every homeless person today and tomorrow we would have more homeless.”

He pointed out that many low-level crimes don’t lead to incarceration, nor are they likely to funnel a person into ways to address underlying causes, such as mental illness or substance abuse.

Still, CORE’s goal is to get someone on a track that leads to permanent housing. “We’re all frustrated by it, but we can find solutions together.”

]]>https://martinezgazette.com/core-teams-striving-to-help-homeless-in-martinez/feed/02010County tells homeowner maple is not ‘heritage tree’https://martinezgazette.com/county-tells-homeowner-maple-is-not-heritage-tree/
https://martinezgazette.com/county-tells-homeowner-maple-is-not-heritage-tree/#respondSun, 20 May 2018 19:59:46 +0000https://martinezgazette.com/?p=1993MARTINEZ, Calif. – A homeowner who lives in unincorporated Contra Costa County near Martinez has been told her large silver maple is not a “heritage tree,” although she’s convinced it qualifies under the county’s own definition.

Diana Daniels, who lives at 1049 Sierra Ave., has been living since 1998 in a house built on a 3,000 square foot lot in 1939.

She said the larger of her two expansive maples is between 100 and 150 years old.

When a neighbor, Angie Wetter, died at 100, her heirs sold the property, then numbered 1020 Sierra Ave., and subsequently a large house was built on the subdivided lot, 1035 Sierra Ave. Before that lot was developed the larger maple’s root system and canopy extended into it from Daniels’s lot.

The reconfiguration of the parcel and subsequent construction of a large home there concerned Daniels, initially because of the size of the new lots as well as the size of the new house, which she said is larger than many houses in the neighborhood.

They spoke against the changes during hearings, but the house construction was given the go-ahead, she said.

Then Daniels began worrying about the maple, and how the new construction would affect its health.

During construction, the canopy and critical root system were cut with a chainsaw, Lehman said. Daniels said that 50 branches were cut, leaving the tree with just five.

That was something Daniels had hoped to prevent by getting the tree declared a “heritage” tree, so it would not be damaged or its life threatened.

But Contra Costa County officials have disagreed whether the tree meets their definitions.

Daniels and her boyfriend, Clarence Lehman, who lives at 1020 Sierra Ave. in a 1916 house, said they have been speaking with the county’s planners, building inspectors and officials in the Community Development Department of Conservation and Development, a deputy district attorney and Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office as well as the Board of Supervisors.

Lehman said the county’s own code, section 816-4.402 defines a heritage tree as one that is 72 or more inches in circumference when measured 4.5 feet above the natural grade, or a tree or group of trees worthy of protection and specifically designated as a heritage tree by the Board of Supervisors because they have historical or ecological interest or significance or are dependent on each other for health or survival or are outstanding specimens of a species because of location, size, age, rarity, shape or health.

Both he and Daniels have said the maple tree is 180 degrees in circumference.

Lehman has keyed on a two-letter word in the code that is the specific area on which he and Daniels disagree with the county contention that the tree doesn’t meet its “heritage” definition – “or.”

He has noted that the code says the tree has the minimum required girth or – rather than “and” – meets the other qualifications.

He illustrated the difference between “or” and “and” by citing a county job posting that said qualified candidates must have a high school diploma or a General Equivalency Development (GED) diploma. “That doesn’t mean you have to have both,” he said. “It means you must have one or the other.”

If county officials believe a heritage tree should meet each of the qualifications rather than either the circumference or the other list of specification, “Change the code,” Lehman said.

He has corresponded with District 5 Supervisor Federal D. Glover’s chief of staff, David E. Fraser, and with the staff of the Conservation of Development department, which said the tree meets the requisite circumference, but not the other requirements for a heritage tree.

So far, county officials do not concur.

Aruna Bhat, deputy director of Community Development in the Department of Conservation and Development, provided a copy of the code’s verbiage and has written Lehman, saying, “Section 816-4.404 (d) of the Ordinance states that the planning commission or board in designating a heritage tree shall consider the criteria of Section 816-4.402.

“As stated earlier by several staff members from our Department, a tree 72 inches or more in circumference measured four and one-half feet above natural grade has to be designated by the County Board of Supervisors.

“Section 816-4.404 (d) of the Code clearly states that the planning commission or board in designating a heritage tree shall consider the criteria of Section 816-4.402 and one of the criteria listed in Section 816-4.402 is the size of the tree.”

David Twa, administrator and clerk of the Board of Supervisors, said John Kopchik, director of Conservation and Development, had reviewed the matter with representatives of the County Counsel’s office, and was told the code was being enforced correctly.

The designation is important to Daniels and Lehman because of other portions of the county’s code, one that protects such trees.

Section 816-4.810 said that contractors, developers, owners or their agents must notify the county’s building inspection department “without undue delay” if a heritage tree is damaged during construction.

Daniels contends that the chopping of the tree’s roots and canopy that had extended onto the neighboring lot was just such damage, and she is worried that her elderly tree may be so injured, it could die.

In addition, the way the neighbor’s lot has been transformed, soil has been placed within the tree’s crown space, and that, too, could endanger the tree’s health.

Lehman said one employee in the county’s Planning Department told the two, “I don’t know how to fix a tree,” so he suggested requiring a bond as insurance, but that was not required during the development. Nor was an arborist present when the work was done, he said.

“I have explained this over and over again,” Lehman said. “Nevertheless, everyone continues to assert that the tree is not a heritage tree and they will not enforce the code. They instead continue telling me how a tree gets to be designated as a heritage tree.”

MARTINEZ, Calif. – Martinez Planning Commission has approved unanimously both the mitigated negative declaration and the vesting tentative map for a proposed development to be built on the former Pine Meadow Golf Course.

“That’s it. The project is approved,” said Christina Ratcliffe, Martinez Community and Economic Development director.

However, one the development’s opponent, Tim Platt, warned that a lawsuit could overturn a Martinez City Council determination that the property is designated for residential development rather than open space use. Should that happen, it could upend the project.

The Commission’s vote came after Tuesday night’s public hearing on the documents and presentations that described DeNova Homes’ plans to build 92 single-family homes on lots that range from the minimum allowed size of 7,500 square feet to some as large as 13,227 square feet, with an average size of 8,281 square feet, contract planner Cindy Gnos told the Commission.

Residents would enter the development from Morello Avenue; another intersection is on Center Avenue and an emergency vehicle access easement also would connect with Center Avenue. The streets would be built to public street standards, although whether the Martinez City Council would accept them for maintenance has not been decided, Assistant City Attorney Veronica Nebb said.

Members of the public had a month, ending May 4, to comment on the environmental Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration documents. Those who submitted concerns or questions mentioned visual impacts, the effects on wildlife, safety of the lots’ elevations and retaining walls, greenhouse gas emissions, whether chemicals used on the land when it was a golf course posed environmental hazards, drainage, compliance with the General Plan and zoning designation, the removal of a potential park site, impacts on schools and traffic and the cumulative impacts of adding another subdivision to the city.

Their observations led to minor changes in the DeNova Homes’ design for the land, such as the requirement of analysis by a soil engineer who would examine soil stability and design of such elements as retaining walls.

Modification of plans would assure keeping greenhouse gas emissions below standards set by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

None of the changes was considered major, so the documents did not need to be recirculated, said Beth Thompson, who prepared the initial study and negative declaration for DeNovo Planning Group, an environmental planning firm that despite similarity of name is not related to DeNova Homes, a family-owned home construction company founded by Dave and Lori Sanson and based in Concord.

The vesting tentative subdivision map shows the development is consistent with the General Plan, and complies with Martinez rules and regulations.

Trent Sanson, son of the founders, said he and other company employees “have been working diligently” with Martinez city staff for more than two years. He explained how his company has been recognized as much for its support of community efforts, including housing the homeless, as for its projects.

He said his goals were a high quality design, using single-story homes, some of which have “junior” or “in-law” suites that allow young purchasers to “age in place” or let adult children continue living with their parents in an attached residence that either is walled off the main home or has a door that can be locked for privacy.

Most of those who attended the meeting said they favored the development. Don Wilson, who has lived adjacent to the former golf course site that would become the Vine Hill Subdivision for 40 years, said he had read the project’s documents.

“I played on that golf course,” he said, and added he considers the original property owners to be his friends. He called the DeNova Home proposal “a quality development,” and urged its approval.

“Let this family do something with their property,” he said.

Rich Verilli said the development would meet a critical need for new homes. “People can’t find anything to rent or live in,” he said. The development would improve the city’s condition, he said, adding his wish that at least some of the homes would be considered “affordable housing.”

Joel Crawford echoed Verilli’s thought, saying younger couples, those 25 to 35, are struggling “to find anything that isn’t decrepit.” He said people want to live somewhere they can feel safe in rearing children, but that people from elsewhere are driving up prices and driving Californians out of the state because of the costs.

Coward’s granddaughter, Laura Ingrassia, said her family has had a good relationship with DeNova Homes since it expressed interest in purchasing her family’s land.

She reminded the Commission that in 1976, the city rejected Measure O, deciding against purchasing the land.

In October 2014, her family, DeNova Homes representatives, members of Friends of Pine Meadow and spokespersons for the Sierra Club met to talk about the property’s potential sale for development. At that meeting, the Sierra Club representatives said the golf course didn’t represent the type of land it sought to preserve, and it had no objections to its development, she said.

In 2017, the City Council’s decision that the property always had been designated for residential use “set the record straight, she said, countering claims by opponents, including Platt, that “history was rewritten” by that determination.

Had original plans for the site remained unopposed, the development would have had walking trails and an open space area, but opponents sought to have the project subject to public vote, and the Council instead repealed its 2015 approval of that plan.

DeNova Homes submitted a new application the next year, appealing a staff determination that its application was incomplete. That led to the Council’s determination that the land had remained designated as residential, not open space.

That decision is being challenged by Platt and others who formed the grass roots group Friends of Pine Meadow, although a decision on the challenge is pending.

The project’s opponents contend that for 43 years, the golf course was considered open space designation. Platt reiterated that position Tuesday night.

“The facts are wrong, the process is wrong and the decision is wrong,” he said. If a court ruling favors the project’s opponents, he warned, that could overturn the basic premise on which the negative declaration and vesting tentative map are based.

Commissioner Sean Trambley said he, too, looked for a couple of years for a house in Martinez to buy. “The housing market is hard,” he said, adding that he supports developments such as the one designed by DeNova Homes.

Commissioner Paul Kelly said this is the second time he’s seen an application for the former golf course, which was closed in 2015, although its tavern remains open.

“Everything is the same, minus three homes,” he said. Kelly said he liked that the subdivision’s streets would be 46 feet wide, which could accommodate on-street parking on both sides. “I think this is a really good project.”

Kimberly Glover was another Commissioner who was on the panel when the initial design was submitted. “This is very beneficial for Martinez,” she said. At one time she lived close to the golf course, and said the only comments she has heard about the development have been complimentary ones, and like others, it took her several years to find a home in Martinez to buy.

Commissioner Gabriel Lemus also was on the Commission in time to see the earlier plans. In his work experience associated with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, he recognized that this subdivision wouldn’t necessarily be classified as “affordable” homes.

But bringing more homes on the market could possibly stabilize prices, and that could benefit not only Martinez but also the greater East Bay area, Lemus said.

Alternate Jason Martin agreed.

Commissioner Tracey Casella said, “This would look beautiful, and would enhance our city. Residential in this space is completely what I would expect. It’s not appropriate for much else.”

Cindy Turner (far right), president of the College Park High School Parent-Teacher-Student Association, accepts a check from Martinez City Council Wednesday night for $500 for the high school’s graduation night activities June 6.

MARTINEZ, Calif. – Martinez has accumulated so much money through the half-cent Measure D sales tax that it can accomplish 10 times the road repair projects in one fiscal year than it could previously, City Manager Brad Kilger said.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Martinez City Council unanimously approved the lengthy list of local streets that will have potholes filled, surfaces renewed and other repairs done in Fiscal Year 2018-19. While Vice Mayor Lara DeLaney was absent Wednesday, she previously has expressed her endorsement of the project list.

To make a comparison between what the city could accomplish prior to voters’ approval of Measure D, City Engineer Tim Tucker said last year, the city had to save up for several years to repair 130,000 square yards of roadway.

In a previous report, Tucker provided statistics about road maintenance and repair revenues.

Prior to the passage of both Measure D and Senate Bill 1 that increased fuel taxes, Martinez’s share of gasoline and the county Measure J sales tax was just $450,000 a year, Tucker wrote. “Our overall poor street condition was directly related to the lack of adequate funding to maintain our streets in a condition acceptable to our residents.”

As a result, in Contra Costa County, only Orinda had worse streets, according to 2015 examinations and reports by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “We were losing ground,” Tucker said Wednesday.

This year alone, because of a boost in road repair revenues, the city has been able to repair 330,000 square yards of local roadways, he said.

In his earlier report, he wrote, “When the measure (D) was drafted, it was estimated that the revenues would be approximately $2.1 million.

“Based on the 2015 Pavement Management Report, this level of funding would enable the city to maintain our streets at the current overall condition. Actual revenues in Fiscal 2018 are estimated to be approximately $3.36 million,” Tucker wrote.

Martinez, as have other cities, has been struggling to meet its road maintenance needs during the past several years, which have seen sharp declines in gasoline tax revenues as vehicles become more fuel-efficient and motorists switch to hybrid and electric cars.

In answer to citizens’ complaints about roadway conditions, the Council voted to put the half-cent sales tax on the Nov. 8, 2016 ballot, gambling that at least two-thirds of the voters would back the measure. In fact, 72 percent gave their approval.

The tax has a 15 year life span, but the city didn’t begin collecting its revenues until April 2017, Kilger said.

“People are frustrated,” he said. But now that the city has a year’s worth of revenue dedicated to road maintenance, “Now they will see….They will see the difference this year.”

Because the tax lasts so long, Councilmember Debbie McKillop assured those whose streets aren’t on the initial list that road repairs in their neighborhoods will be placed on future lists.

And the way the funds have been earmarked, there is some “wiggle room” to add smaller but necessary projects that may have been over looked, Tucker said. “It’s flexible enough.”

A few smaller projects, such as patching and pot hole filling, already have been accomplished, and Kilger said he hoped crews were marking the work sites with signs that identified those projects as funded by Measure D revenues.

Two other major local streets, Green and Brown, will receive attention through separate funding, Councilmember Mark Ross said. One resident who was happy to hear that called Brown Street “a roller coaster.”

Another resident, Julian Frazer, urged the Council to examine damage to local streets by garbage, recycling and green waste trucks, which he said are made of heavy steel but till are lifted when they collect receptacles.

The new pavement management program calls for completion of some projects that had to be delayed because of conflicts with Pacific Gas and Electric scheduling.

In the Brookside area, parts of Brookside Drive, Estudillo Street, Park Glen, Shady Glen, Terrace Way and Vista Way would receive work. The expanded Brookside Area would see crews working on Graffanti Court, Pine Court, Pinon Court, Pinon Drive and Wyoming Street.

Also on the list are downtown area streets that could receive crack seal and microseal treatments. Those are Castro, Escobar, Estudillo, Ferry, Las Juntas and Ward streets.

Since both Brown and Green streets will undergo extensive repairs that are expected to be finished before the start of the 2018-19 school year, downtown street work may be delayed to prevent excessive disruption of traffic, Tucker has said earlier.

In other matters, the Council confirmed Mayor Rob Schroder’s appointment of Jeff Roubal to the Veterans Commission and unanimously approved its consent calendar.

That portion of the agenda included a resolution expressing the city’s opposition to the Tax Fairness, Transparency and Accountability Act, a state constitutional amendment that could void local measures approved by voters on or after Jan. 1 but before the act’s effective date should those measures fail to comply with the act’s provisions.

The act calls for a two-thirds voter approval to raise any and all new local taxes, including general purpose taxes that currently need only a simple majority’s approval. It would redefine some other levies, such as service fees, as taxes and require a two-thirds vote of city councils for their approval, and voters would have a process by which they could overturn those fees. Changes in the use of tax revenues also would require a two-thirds vote of both a council and residents.

Finance Director David Glass had recommended the city’s opposition to the act, saying it would interfere with a city’s ability to provide needed services, address community needs or keep infrastructure in good repair.

One resident, Dick Duncan, wrote his objection to the matter being placed on the consent calendar, which is decided by a single vote, saying, “It’s one thing for bureaucrats to try and kill such citizen driven initiatives to require fairness, transparency and justification for raising taxes on the citizens at large. It is something else to put it on the consent calendar and attempt to evade public discussion and input and allow Council members to take the easy way out.”

He asked that each member of the Council state an opinion on the act and describe how that opinion was reached. Instead, the item remained on the calendar, which was approved unanimously.

Other items on the consent calendar include the assigning of the amended pipeline franchise ordinance to TransMontaigne Operating Company; the notice of completion of the Martinez Marina Dredge project, and a report on the city’s investments, which City Treasurer Carolyn Robinson said conform to the city’s investment policy and are of sufficient liquidity and anticipated revenues to meet Martinez’s budgeted expenditure requirements for the next six months.

MARTINEZ, Calif. – A majestic black steam locomotive, Southern Pacific 1258, sits prominently in Martinez Waterfront Park, and is a landmark for those arriving at the local Amtrak station.

Many longtime residents remember playing on the locomotive when it sat at Rankin Park.

But at one time, the city considered letting go its own locomotive, and a group of citizens, who banded together as the Martinez Railway Historical Society, made sure the locomotive remained here, said Roger Colton, a member of the society when he lived in Pleasant Hill.

The SP 1258 was built in Los Angeles in 1921 by Southern Pacific, the railroad company that operated from 1865 to 1998, when it merged with the Union Pacific Railroad.

Its primary duties was as a switcher, and was sent to work in various railroad yards in California and occasionally to Nevada, Colton said. “In real life, it worked the industries, bringing freight cars from other destinations to Shell,” he said. Sometimes it would take train cars to warehouses. It was photographed working along Alameda Street in Los Angeles as well as other places as needed.

“It performed multiple jobs every day,” Colton said. Crews would come aboard to replace others that were done with their shift as the locomotive worked on, sometimes 24 hours a day.

“It was sent where it was needed,” Colton said. “A lot of rail fans forget that not all locomotives led exciting lives. Some were everyday workhorses. That’s what this was.”

When the Southern Pacific switched to diesel power, the company sold some of its larger locomotives for scrap, but gave away some of its switchers, Colton said.

“When cities asked for donations, these were available,” Colton said. Martinez received the 1258 in 1959, one of 14 donated to various cities, and it was moved to Rankin Park near the pool, he said.

But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, concerns were raised about asbestos in the boiler, Colton said. Some city officials became so worried that they considered getting rid of the locomotive.

That didn’t set well with fans of the locomotive. About a dozen decided to form the Martinez Railway Historical Society, a grass-roots organization that urged the city to keep the 1258.

“It was a citizen effort to hold on to it as an asset to the city,” Colton said. “It wasn’t affiliated with the Martinez Historical Society or part of any organized group.”

One thing the group did do was print T-shirts to promote its cause, he said.

Colton wrote up a presentation, which he gave at a City Council meeting. In his talk, he described the history of this locomotive. He voiced the Martinez Railway Historical Society’s contention that the locomotive was an asset, not a liability.

Finally, city officials agreed, and Martinez was able to keep its locomotive.

Colton said the Martinez Railway Historical Society lasted only a couple of years, and few residents may remember it existed at all.

A lifelong train enthusiast, Colton has kept his hand in railroading, and operates Private Car Service for rail excursions, and has an interest in model railroads as well. He now lives in Livermore.

Despite its short existence, the legacy of the Martinez Railway Historical Society lives on in the 1258, he said.

After suffering some vandalism at Rankin Park, the locomotive was moved to Waterfront Park, Colton said. Its placement originally was to be on pavement between turns on a proposed design for Ferry Street. Instead, plans were changed and the locomotive was placed where it is seen today, near Alhambra Creek, he said.

“When they built the display with the box car, the idea was to make a railroad park,” Colton said. That’s why a picnic table and stairs to the cab were built. However, a transient person started causing problems at the site, even starting a fire. “That ended the access,” he said.

Members of the community remained fans of the locomotive, and some repainted and relettered the 1258 to beautify the display, Colton said. That needs to be done again, he observed.

As was the custom of the day, the city allowed museum members and others to remove parts if they could be used in returning a similar locomotive to operating condition, so long as it didn’t affect the integrity of the display. “That’s why if you look at the locomotive, pieces are missing,” Colton said. “The whistle and boiler plate are long gone.”

The locomotive will experience another move shortly, but City Engineer Tim Tucker said this won’t compare to the relocations the locomotive has experienced in the past. Those stopping by the locomotive may have noticed stakes have been placed in the ground around the display.

“We are sliding it back a bit to run a path in front of it from the new parking lot to Ferry Street,” Tucker said.

A new clubhouse will be erected, a covered picnic area in a remote corner will be removed, lighting will be improved and adjustments will be made to make Golden Hills Park more accessible to those with disabilities, City Engineer Tim Tucker told more than two dozen residents Thursday afternoon. (DONNA BETH WEILENMAN/Martinez News-Gazette)

MARTINEZ, Calif. – A new clubhouse will be erected, a covered picnic area in a remote corner will be removed, lighting will be improved and adjustments will be made to make Golden Hills Park more accessible to those with disabilities, City Engineer Tim Tucker told more than two dozen residents Thursday afternoon.

The new community room will replace the oddly-configured one, and will be rectangular, with an exterior water fountain nearby and more windows. Work also will be done on a pathway from Reliez Valley Road.

Its restrooms should be better than the current building’s restrooms, which one resident said children are afraid to use.

The new building will be equipped similarly to the current one, and will resemble the building erected at Nancy Boyd Park, although this one would be larger, Tucker said.

It will be designed to be visually compatible with the rest of the neighborhood, and will have a large overhang for additional shade. Tucker said.

The remote corner’s picnic tables have attracted the “wrong” activities, and city employees constantly are cleaning up broken bottles and cans, he said. That area is a candidate for additional lighting, too, he said, although one woman suggested thorny bushes be planted there.

The area could be a passive picnic area, Tucker said, suggesting families might be encouraged to bring their own tables and chairs.

New illumination will be light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which will be brighter, but are expected to be less disruptive to neighbors, he said.

Tucker did more than describe the park’s future, a project originally estimated to cost $1.2 million of Measure H bond money, but likely will cost $1.7 million or more. He also answered questions and took notes on suggestions.

For instance, Tucker heard one resident wonder about the park’s tennis courts. The solution isn’t easy, he admitted, because the ground likely will cause the same problems soon after the courts are resurfaced.

Tucker suggested a slip coating that resembles the felt paper and tar used on roofs. “It’s weird, but it works,” he said.

Some residents asked about additional shade, and Tucker said that’s often an expensive addition. “But we’ll put it on the list,” he said. That shade may come in the form of trees, rather than structures.

And when one resident suggested thinning some of the trees always growing there, a woman who lives next to the park’s wooded area said she likes the atmosphere those trees bring, as well as the shade that cools her home.

Gophers are another problem, and the little animals dig holes that some residents said can cause injury.

Eradication is a possibility, but the city must strive to keep gophers at bay. “It’s an ongoing problem,” he said.

One resident suggested installing owl houses, which Tucker said he would consider including as plans for the park progress. He promised to speak with Friends of Alhambra Creek to get their comments or advice on owl boxes.

One resident asked why Golden Hills Park has a gravel path, rather than asphalt paving, from its parking stalls. Tucker said that path would not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act specifications even if it were paved. Those in wheelchairs or have other disabilities have other ways to reach the park, he said, but he agreed to see if that pathway could be paved.

Dogs are another problem, especially those off-leash, a resident told Tucker, suggesting that when the park is rebuilt, larger signs should be placed advising pet owners to keep their animals leashed.

About that time, someone pointed out a dog running loose in the park.

Tucker said the city has a concern in most of its parks about loose dogs, dogs being walked in prohibited areas and pet owners failing to clean up their pets’ leavings. Some of those parks have larger signs, but some will walk up to the sign, pass it, and disobey the rules, he said.

“The problem is too big for the police to take care of,” he added.

However, he promised to consider larger signs and install dispensers of dog clean-up bags.

When Tucker said the city is winding down on spending the Measure H revenues, one resident asked why Golden Hills Park, at the end of Bernice Lane and Blue Ridge Drive, had been placed so low as a priority.

It’s because the playground equipment was new and ADA compliant when the list was made, and the playground equipment remains in good condition, he said. Other parks were in “decrepit” states, he said.

When one resident asked whether work would come in phases, he said that would make the project even more expensive, and the city may be shuffling money, perhaps using gasoline tax revenues on the walkway from Reliez Valley Road.

During construction, the park’s perimeter will be fenced. “It will be inconvenient for those who walk the park,” he said.

Tucker said residents’ comments would be put on the city’s website and would be considered as the final design is drafted.

The park is expected to take seven or eight months to complete, and should reopen next spring, Tucker said.

]]>https://martinezgazette.com/residents-hear-plans-for-golden-hills-park-renovation/feed/01965Deep budget cuts in MUSD’s future, board hearshttps://martinezgazette.com/deep-budget-cuts-in-musds-future-board-hears/
https://martinezgazette.com/deep-budget-cuts-in-musds-future-board-hears/#respondWed, 16 May 2018 08:00:46 +0000https://martinezgazette.com/?p=1931MARTINEZ, Calif. – Martinez Unified School District must commit to making as much as $3.5 million in cuts to the 2019-20 budget if it is to remain certified, Assistant District Superintendent Helen Rossi told the Board of Education Monday night.

Since it was presented as an informational instead of action item, no vote was taken. But the Contra Costa County Office of Education must receive the MUSD Board’s commitment before a review of the budget June 7, she said.

“We can’t make the third year out,” she said, meaning the District would not be able to retain 3 percent of its revenues as reserves.

“The exact number is not known, but it could be as high as $3.5 million. It could be less,” Rossi said.

Contra Costa County ultimately must approve the budget, and would require the Board’s resolution, District Superintendent C.J. Cammack said.

“This comes from the county Office of Education,” Boardmember Kathi McLaughlin reiterated, because she wasn’t confident the district’s community residents realize this. “It’s required by the county Office of Education.”

“This is the second time we’ve had to do it,” Boardmember John Fuller said, referring to the previous resolution during the recession that indicated the District would be making some $2 million in cuts. “This is 50 percent higher,” he added.

McLaughlin said the Board had issued such a resolution another time since 2000.

“This is a significant issue,” she said, explaining that the Board is dealing with steeper costs for retired employees, and education funding from the state isn’t keeping pace.

And this won’t be the only budget slash in the District’s near future, Superintendent C.J. Cammack said. Between $1 million and $2 million more must be cut in the next few years.

“Sacramento says we must do more with less,” said Board President Jonathan Wright, and that leads to “dire consequences.”

Later in the meeting, he observed that voter-approved changes in the state’s taxing system “intentionally handicapped” local governments’ ability to raise revenue, and may force the Board to look at enhancing its parcel tax. “It’s frustrating for me every day,” he said.

The topic likely will be put before the Board at a meeting at 6:30 p.m. May 29, a special date since the usual meeting schedule would have had the Board convening on Memorial Day.

In another money matter, the Board agreed to earmark some of the money it saved during the construction of Alhambra High School Building K on Las Juntas Elementary School’s community play field.

Bids for that field came in $135,000 higher than expected, and Rossi suggested using some of the Building K savings so the construction could proceed.

The balanced will be underwritten by East Bay Regional Park District’s Measure WW bond money. While one parent suggested ways to trim the park costs, but the features that would have been eliminated would be underwritten by a grant, not the bond.

The playing field ultimately would be used by the community at large, not just the school, said Wright, who called the field “a lasting benefit.”

The Board heard that Alhambra High School will offer Advanced Placement college physics for the first time next year.

It authorized a year’s electronic text subscription for the new Alhambra High School classes in Physics of Earth and Space and texts for new science classes at Martinez Junior High School.

It also approved letting District administrators approve field trips for sports teams who qualify for playoffs. In the past, the Board itself had sole responsibility for authorizing such trips, requiring them to meet in special sessions when teams progressed in post-season play.

At a future meeting, the Board will consider extending a memorandum of understanding with New Leaf Collaborative, which offers students opportunities to learn about the environment, science nature through community science projects and experimental challenges and internships.

Some students become members of “green teams” and go on to teach younger children about the importance of recycling and how to reduce landfill waste.

Another presentation showed the Board the importance of the career pathways approach to training Alhambra and Vicente-Briones students in media arts, engineering, patient care, hospitality and introductions to various trades.

Juliet Stephenson, MUSD Student Representative, was recognized for her work on the Board of Education the past two years. An Alhambra High School senior, she will be graduated in June. (DONNA WEILENMAN/Martinez Gazette)

Student representative Juliet Stephenson, an Alhambra High School senior who will be graduated June 8, was recognized for her two years of service on the Board. She, in turn, introduced her choice to succeed her. Fatima Lizarde, an Alhambra sophomore this year who will be a junior when she joins the Board as student representative.

Stephenson was praised by Cammack and the Board for her contributions both on the Board and in other activities, and Lizarde was welcomed by the panel.

The Board also heard from several members of the Alhambra varsity softball team, who objected to the suspension of Justine Carranza, 14, and her 10-day suspension from the team.

They described how a student had taken the property from Carranza and other students. When Carranza asked for the property to be returned, an altercation happened, and both Carranza and the team said she was attacked.

The student’s mother, Rachel Carranza, said her daughter was pulled by the hair and hit on the right eye. She wasn’t satisfied with her conversation with Principal Tom Doppe, and said he cut her short.

She and the student’s teammates said Carranza was a victim and shouldn’t have been suspended, and asked for her restoration to the team.

Cammack said he was limited in what he could say about the specific matter, because a student’s records are confidential. However, he said before any student is suspended, the District conducts an extensive investigation.